UN in General

Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011) concerning the Libyan Arab Jamahiriyahttp://www.un.org/sc/committees/1970/The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011) concerning the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was established on 26 February 2011 to oversee the relevant sanctions measures and to undertake the tasks set out by the Security Council in paragraph 24 of the same resolution.

Peace and Security

Civilian capacity in the aftermath of conflict: Independent report of the Senior Advisory Group (A/65/747- S/2011/85)English, French & Spanish:http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/65/747
The United Nations needs to be more flexible, nimble and better able to muster international support to build the civilian capacities vital in post-conflict countries to avoid a relapse back into bloodshed, according to an UN-commissioned report released today. The report of the Senior Advisory Group for the Review of International Civilian Capacities, appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a year ago, calls for the UN to look beyond its own staff to draw on the full range of global capacities, working closely with Member States and civil society through a new mechanism for civilian partnerships to mobilize the skills needed for a whole range of tasks, from building the rule of law to creating jobs to providing basic services.

Health effects due to radiation from the Chernobyl accident (UNSCEAR)http://www.unscear.org/docs/reports/2008/Advance_copy_Annex_D_Chernobyl_Report.pdf
Despite new research data becoming available, the major conclusions regarding the scale and nature of the health consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident are "essentially consistent" with previous assessments", according to a new report released by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

Economic & Social Development

2011 Humanitarian Action for Children (UNICEF)English, French & Spanish:http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_57800.html
The report provides an overview of projected humanitarian needs for 2011 in 32 countries and territories, and 6 regions. This latest edition also examines how UNICEF, through its humanitarian action, aims to foster resilience at the individual, community and institutional levels.

Exploring Linkages Women's Empowerment, Microfinance and Health Education (UNFPA)http://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/home/publications/pid/7262
This booklet – published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) - highlights the results of a survey of women clients of microfinance institutions in 14 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with a special focus on the effects of the social services provided by those institutions. It looks, in particular, at dimensions of women’s sexual and reproductive health, including domestic violence, and the extent of women’s empowerment.

The Financial and Economic Crisis of 2008-2009 and Developing countries (UNCTAD)
Book & Overview:http://www.unctad.org/Templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=5881
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in cooperation with the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW) Berlin, has co-published this publication that aims at contributing to the debate on international trading and financial systems topics. The book is a collection of papers that put the South at centre stage.

Global Development Finance 2011 (World Bank)http://issuu.com/world.bank.publications/docs/9780821386736
This World Bank publication is a continuation of the publications Global Development Finance, Volume II (1997 through 2009) and the earlier World Debt Tables (1973 through 1996). As in previous years, GDF 2011 provides statistical tables showing the external debt of 128 developing countries that report public and publicly guaranteed external debt to the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (DRS). It also includes tables of key debt ratios for individual reporting countries and the composition of external debt stocks and flows for individual reporting countries and regional and income groups along with some graphical presentations.

World Report on Disability - Concept Note (WHO)http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/concept_note_2010.pdf
The “World Report on Disability” will be launched on 9 June 2011. Mandated by the World Health Assembly Resolution 58.23, and jointly published by WHO and the World Bank, the World report summarizes the best available scientific evidence on disability and makes recommendations for action to support the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006).

Human Rights

Agro-ecology and the Right to Food (A/HRC/16/49)English, French & Spanish: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/food/annual.htm
Small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods, this new UN report shows. Based on an extensive review of the recent scientific literature, the study calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a way to boost food production and improve the situation of the poorest. “To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farming techniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report. “Today’s scientific evidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live -- especially in unfavorable environments.”

e-Digest on Freedom of Religion or Belief – 25 years of thought by four UN Special Rapporteurs http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/religion/docs/RapporteursDigestFreedomReligionBelief.pdf
From freedom from coercion, to State religion; from the right to manifest one's religion or belief, to religious intolerance and extremism: on the 25th anniversary of the mandate’s establishment, the UN Special Rapporteur has launched today a key reference e-book compiling observations and recommendations by the four independent experts who have served on the Freedom of Religion or Belief mandate since 1986.

Preventing Torture: An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutionshttp://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/PreventingTorture.pdf
This Guide is the outcome of cooperation between the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF). This Guide aims to support and strengthen the work of national human rights institutions (NHRIs), and has been designed as a practical tool to support them in their concrete activities to prevent torture.

Report of the Panel on Remedies and Reparations for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the High Commissioner for Human RightsEnglish: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_Reparations_Report_en.pdf French:http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_Reparations_Report_fr.pdf
A new UN report, based on testimonies by some of the hundreds of thousands of victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, paints an extremely stark picture of the at best inadequate, and at worst non-existent, resources and efforts to meet their needs, ranging from medical and psychological treatment, to their socio-economic situation, and lack of access to justice, compensation and other forms of remedies and reparations. The 55-page report, published 10 March 2011 by a special high-level panel appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, is the product of a 17-day field visit by the panel’s three members and their support team to seven locations in three different provinces and the capital Kinshasa.

Humanitarian Affairs

Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters; Mid-term review 2010-2011 (UNISDR)http://unisdr.org/preventionweb/files/18197_midterm.pdf
A new report – released by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR) - confirms what governments already hear but are slow to believe: that disciplined public sector involvement in “disaster risk reduction” can significantly reduce setbacks brought by hundreds of droughts, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes and other hazards that befall the world each year, on average. The report points out that a majority of countries have roadmaps for creating and safeguarding wealth, but many are lacking capacity. In some cases, there is capacity but no legal basis for coordination among the different government sectors.

New information material

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